8.9.18 10 Great Books for Teachers to Kick-Off the Year As teachers get ready for the new school year, we thought it would be fun to ask our staff of education experts what books they are reading or have read that impacted them. As former teachers and as... Read more
7.31.18 The Importance of Maintaining Empathy for Our Learners This summer one of my closest friends is taking swim lessons. Let me tell you about this friend – she is in her thirties, is an amazing educator, and will begin her new role as an administrator... Read more
7.24.18 What World Cup Soccer Can Teach Us About Goal Setting This Washington Post article—One of the World Cup’s Best Goals Was Even Crazier Than You Thought— fascinated me. I was struck by the Opta Sports data about the probability of soccer kicks... Read more
7.10.18 Four More Tips to Promote Endless Summer Reading We recently brought you Five Ways to Promote Endless Summer Reading, an action/adventure guide to getting your children to read this summer. Today, we’re pleased to present the sequel, with a... Read more
7.5.18 Five Ways to Promote Endless Summer Reading The idea that reading is important isn’t just an intuition. It’s supported by research, like this and this and this. To avoid the dreaded “summer slide” in reading achievement, parents and... Read more
7.3.18 Developing Your Formative Assessment Muscles As we ease into summer, I like to think teachers and educators have a little more time and space to think about their professional learning and some ‘big picture’ classroom ideas. If it’s one... Read more
6.28.18 Seven Crucial Criteria for a Great Growth Assessment – Post Two As we’ve written about many times, measuring growth is only useful if it’s done well. It’s not about just comparing one proficiency score to the next one. It’s about accurately identifying... Read more
6.26.18 Seven Crucial Criteria for a Great Growth Assessment – Post One “I need to know if my students are learning.” Sound familiar? We hear it a lot, and if you’re an educator, you’ve likely not only heard it, but said it as well. But measuring growth is only... Read more
6.19.18 The Battle for Time: Choosing Quality over Quantity During the last week of school, my colleagues and I were chatting in the sweltering heat while monitoring our students on the playground at recess. We were discussing time... We came upon the... Read more
6.15.18 We have a winner: MAP Reading Fluency! We are thrilled to announce that MAP Reading Fluency, our new oral reading fluency assessment for K-3 readers, won the 2018 SIIA CODiE award for Best Student Assessment Solution! MAP Reading Fluency... Read more
6.14.18 Personalized Learning is Student-Directed Learning This article in EdWeek highlights an idea I love – WIN sessions in Henry County, Georgia. WIN, or What I Need, periods provide students choice about, flexibility in, and ownership of their... Read more
6.5.18 How MAP Growth K-2 Meets the Needs of Early Learners Most educators agree that assessments can be powerful tools for students and teachers when they’re purposeful, instructionally aligned, and tied to student outcomes—but there’s still quite a... Read more